


Järvi ja joki

by Jordgubbe



Category: Norse Religion & Lore, Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Also this fic could be read as shippy if you squint, And folklore can be the prurpliest prose youve ever read sometimes so..., Author might have slightly abused a thesarus for this, But hey its folklore, But its up to interpretation, Child Murder, Drowning, Gen, Just some good ol' casual murder basically, M/M, Minor Character Death, Näcken!Emil, Näkki!Lalli, They're malevolent water spirits ok? Drowning people is kind of what they do for a living
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-29 22:25:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8507860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jordgubbe/pseuds/Jordgubbe
Summary: The body was perfect. Not a single crease marring the beautiful face, not a single scar tarnishing the delicate limbs.This was not a human who had simply fallen into the water and drowned. This was a human who had been spellbound, who had been lured into the water, had been drowned, had been drained. And for once, the näkki had had nothing to do with it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> *arrives to the bandwagon like a year later with starbucks* hey guys! How about... a näkki au?!
> 
> I actually started this in June and set out to  
> get it done in a couple of days, but as i am a horrible procastinator...
> 
> This is un-betaed, so feel free to point out any typos or grammar mistakes that I've missed when proofreading. And I based näcken on the stories I grew up with, and I could barely find anything about the näkki at all, so I apologise for any inaccuracies. (Not to mention that I took a ton of creative freedom with this anyway)
> 
> Also, the reason i refer to them as "the" näkki and "Näcken" is mostly for making it less confusing to separate their names, and also because as a swede, both "the näck" and "the näcken" kinda hurts to read, gramatically.
> 
> And again!
> 
>  
> 
> **TW MURDER and DROWNING**
> 
>  
> 
> The murder in this fic is not very graphic, but you know. There is a lot of murder and drowning in a fic about murdering and drowning water spirits, so avoid if that makes you uncomfortable!

The body was perfect. Not a single crease marring the beautiful face, not a single scar tarnishing the delicate limbs. 

 

The näkki glowered at it, the unknown body floating in  _ his _ lake,  _ his _ area. It was just too sublime. The body wasn’t just devoid of life; it was devoid of  _ history _ . There were no scars telling about old fights, or moody cats. There were no laugh lines speaking of good times, nor worry lines speaking of the bad ones. Not a single bruise, not a single scratch-

 

This was not a human who had simply fallen into the water and drowned. This was a human who had been spellbound, who had been lured into the water, had been drowned, had been  _ drained. _ And for once, the näkki had had nothing to do with it. 

 

\---

 

Näcken stretched his arms over his head, feeling the soft rays of dawn caress his bare back. He idly watched the fairies on his riverbank ending their dance and seemingly dissolving into mist. Closing his eyes, he leaned back and let himself float further downstreams. This river had not belonged to him until recently, and he needed to explore it until he knew all its twists and turns, until every swirling current felt as natural to him as his own breathing.

 

Näcken stopped floating and seated himself on a rock near the end of his river, where he could see the lake it ended in. For now, this was as close as he dared to go, because that lake belonged to another, foreign, creature, and it might not like to have another being that close to its area.

 

Näcken did not know much about the creature, other than the fact that it was water-dwelling and seemingly lived of drowning humans. In other words, it didn’t seem to be too unlike Näcken himself. Näcken pondered this, and decided that he should probably try to get friendly, or at least acquainted, with the creature after all. How hard could it be?

 

\---

 

That evening, the näkki heard the music for the first time. The serene, melancholic notes filling the air were unlike anything he had ever heard before. The beautiful sadness of it, the bittersweet nostalgia, reminded him of a time long gone, a name long forgotten. It reminded him of wrinkly hands, and soft lullabies, and round cheeks, and laughing eyes, and calm nights, and Tuuri, and Onni, and  _ Lalli- _

 

_ No. _ He shook his head, trying to suppress the memories. No. That was gone.  _ Gone. _

 

The music was coming from the river, the area that had recently been claimed by another, foreign, creature. The näkki did not like it. To have another creature that close, to be dependent of  _ its _ river delivering water to  _ his _ lake… 

 

Regardless of his feelings towards the other creature, he couldn’t help but swim closer towards the music. Further up the river, he could make out a figure sitting on a rock in the middle of the water, playing some sort of instrument. The figure looked reminiscent of a human male, but it didn’t  _ feel _ like one. The hazy light of dusk cast a halo around its(his?) golden hair, and made his naked skin glow with an ethereal light. No human could ever look quite so… divine. 

 

A noise sounded from the woods, and the näkki watched as a human, obviously transfixed by the music, came stumbling towards the river. The other creature didn't seem to take any notice, but the music turned even louder. 

 

The näkki kept watching as the human gracelessly blundered towards its own death. Soon enough the music stopped. Eventually, another too-perfect body found its way towards the näkki’s lake. 

 

\---

 

There was some kind of spell on the lake. Floating at the end of his river, Näcken could feel it pushing him backwards, making sure that he couldn’t get closer than this. The foreign magic made him a bit uneasy, but surely it was only a safety measure. Once he’d gotten friendly with the other creature it probably wouldn’t affect him any more. 

 

But in order to become friendly with someone you usually needed to meet them first. This was proving to be a problem, since the other creature was nowhere to be seen. He considered calling out to let it know that he was there, but something made him hesitate. Something about this magic made him feel… watched.  

 

He gazed out over the lake. The other creature was probably hiding somewhere, watching him. The thought did nothing to cease his uneasiness. His gaze stopped at a collection of water lilies. They looked normal enough, but something about them didn’t feel right. As he peered at them, something rised out of the water. 

 

The other creature was shaped like a human, but it was so  _ not _ one. The pale skin was somehow both green, blue and grey. Its pale blue eyes seemed to be glowing. 

 

At the moment, those eyes were also glowering. At him. Näcken realised, perhaps a bit too late, that he should probably introduce himself. 

 

“Oh, excuse me! I’m Näcken, I’ve-”

Something collided with his face and sent him flying backwards. With his head ringing from the impact, he suddenly decided that a tactical retreat would probably be the best option here. He fled as the other creature’s cry of “Get out!” rang through the air. 

 

\---

 

The other creature -Näcken- couldn’t take a hint. At first, it appeared like he had been scared away. But the next day he’d been back at the rock within sight of the lake. And the day after that, he’d placed himself on a rock even  _ closer _ to the näkki’s area. This day, he was nowhere to be seen, but the näkki knew better than to think that the other creature had given up. 

 

He had to give him some respect for finding him amongst the water lilies. Not that the näkki had actually been hiding. If he had, no one would have ever managed to find him, least of all Näcken.

 

A magnificent stallion came walking along the river bank. The näkki frowned. Not only was this out of place, something about it wasn’t right. The horse’s mane gleamed like spun gold, and its body shone impossibly white. No horse could ever look quite so … divine.

 

_ Of course _ .

 

The “horse” looked straight at where the näkki was lurking, but he didn’t bother to rise to the surface and acknowledge it. That would only encourage the other creature, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Unperturbed, Näcken waved his golden tail and kept walking towards the lake. Suddenly, his ears perked up, and he trotted off into the forest. Delighted voices sounded through the air.  _ Oh.  _ The näkki watched through the foliage as the “horsie” waved his tail and pranced around for the children. 

 

As soon as the children had seated themselves on his back, Näcken turned around, galloped to the river and threw himself into the water. Below the surface, the näkki could see Näcken turning back into his usual form, his hands holding each struggling child in an iron grip. Then his eyes turned to the näkki, and with a nod he released one of the children. A peace offering. The näkki almost smiled.

 

The little human tried to swim, but the strong current had mercilessly caught it. As it reached the calm lake, it felt a rush of relief and spluttered in an attempt to get to the shore. But the child didn’t get very far before it was pulled under water once again. This time, it wouldn’t resurface. 

 

\---

 

As time passed, more alive but struggling bodies were flushed towards the lake. When Näcken eventually dared to approach the lake again, the strange magic no longer pushed him back. 

 

\---

 

Years later, the legend spoke of an area in the forest, a river and a lake, where two creatures lived in perfect harmony. And with their powers combined, very few of those who visited came back to tell the tale.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Some background for this story: both of them were human once, but at some point got "turned" into the creatures they are now. For Lalli, this was a very long time ago, and probably tied in to Ensi's mistake. Emil is an ex-aristocrat of some kind, and got turned more recently, thereof his more human mannerisms (real oknytt don't really "make friends"). He previously had another river, but he screwed up and kind of got himself exorcised somehow, which is why he moved to another area.
> 
> Edit: I just realised that all of those colourful adjectives describing Näcken might seem a little bit forced coming from Lalli, but i will remind you that Näcken is supposed to be like.. impossibly beautiful, so its got more to do with Näckens literally in _humanly_ good looks than the näkki checking him out. (But of course, if thats how you want to interpretate it thats totally fine!)
> 
> Edit 2: I know the murder is not condemned in the narrative, as it's from the POV of the characters doing the murdering, but obviously I don't condone it lmao. Please don't flirt with your crush by sharing your victims with them! That's Bad. Just don't. 
> 
> Come talk to me on tumblr @smultronviol


End file.
